Every week on Wall Street has its fair share of big winners and losers. Often, it's hard to tell who those big movers will be beforehand. Sometimes, however, we can identify those big movers before they go on their wild rides with great accuracy.
I've found a way to do this: by focusing on stocks that are heavily shorted, and that are reporting earnings. If you don't believe me, check out the three stocks I singled out earlier this month, which moved an average of 44% following their respective earnings releases. That was heavily influenced by the fact that one of the companies -- QuikSilver -- announced it was filing for bankruptcy.
However, I don't actually think investors should try to profit from such short-term movements. There's no telling if these stocks will be going up or down in the coming week. Instead, I think current shareholders of this week's stocks -- BlackBerry (BB -5.23%), Pier 1 (PIRRQ), and Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY) -- should prepare themselves for the week ahead by checking out the slideshow below and seeing what really matters over the long run, and what's just noise.